President Donald Trump on Thursday announced his intention to nominate Steven Miran to a temporary seat on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Miran is known as a proponent of the administration’s tariff policy and a sharp critic of the Fed’s independence, underscoring his influential view on the future monetary policy of the United States.

Currently Miran leads the Council of Economic Advisers. He is described as one of the main architects of Trump’s tariff line and the voice supporting the president’s economic program since his appointment to this position.

The new candidate will fill the vacancy after Adriana Kugler’s resignation, whom Joe Biden appointed in 2023. Her term was due to expire in January, but last week she announced her resignation without explanation.

“I believe this seat is very important for the president,”

– Steven Miran, CNBC

If the Senate confirms Miran’s nomination, his arrival at the Fed is likely to add votes in favor of lowering interest rates. At the Fed’s July policy meeting, for the first time in more than three decades, there was not a unanimous vote to keep rates unchanged, signaling divisions within the leadership.

It is unclear whether the Senate will be able to swiftly consider the nomination ahead of the Fed’s September 16–17 meeting.

“The confirmation process will take several weeks, perhaps up to two months,”

– Bryan Gardner, Chief Strategist at Stifel, CNN

If Miran is confirmed, he could become a potential candidate for the position of Fed chair. His path could mirror the paths of his predecessors, such as Janet Yellen and Ben Bernanke, who previously led the Council of Economic Advisers before their appointments to head the U.S. central bank.

Under Fed rules, the chair can be chosen from among current members of the Board of Governors. Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whom Trump has repeatedly criticized, has not been officially announced whether he will remain on the Board after the end of his term as chair in May 2026. His tenure would run through 2028, so theoretically he could stay on the Board.

Usually after the chair’s term ends, the Fed chair leaves the Board entirely.

Miran is an economist from Harvard University and a public intellectual who has long worked on fiscal and trade policy issues – both with the government and the investment sector.

He worked at the Department of the Treasury during Trump’s first term, and was also a senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute and a senior strategist at Hudson Bay Capital.

After a publication in November 2024 of a study that laid out a tariff-oriented approach to correcting the U.S. trade deficit, Miran drew significant attention on Wall Street.

He remains one of the ardent supporters of using tariffs to reform global trade.

“Everyone anticipated that our tariffs would provoke widespread retaliation from trading partners, that they would try to punish American companies, businesses, and workers, but that is far from the truth,”

– Steven Miran, Fox Business

Regarding monetary policy, Miran voiced support for lowering interest rates.

“I believe the president has an absolutely wonderful track record on interest rates,”

– Steven Miran, CNBC

Last year he was co-author of a Manhattan Institute report in which Fed independence was called an outdated “shibboleth” and urged shortening the terms of members of the Board of Governors.

“Central bank independence has long been considered a key element of successful monetary policy. But central banks are products of political necessity, and true independence exists only in textbooks,”

– Manhattan Institute report

“It can also confer power without accountability.”

– Manhattan Institute report